Tag: Marion Bresko

King Philip senior quarterback Brendan Lydon (12) tossed a pair of first half touchdown passes to lead KP to a season opening win over North Attleboro (Josh Perry/HockomockSports.com)

WRENTHAM, Mass. – King Philip came into Friday night’s season opener against fellow league champion North Attleboro at Macktaz Field in a very different position than last season’s matchup. The defending Div. 1A Super Bowl champion Warriors graduated the vast majority of the starters on both sides of the ball, including all but two on offensive, and had a roster filled with new faces.

Many of the names may have been new, but the play on the field was the same.

KP sacked North’s star quarterback Chad Peterson (13-24, 165 yards) five times, forced four turnovers (two interceptions and two fumbles), and the Warriors made enough plays to pull out a 24-14 victory, the program’s 14th straight win stretching back 2015.

“I’m very pleased,” said KP coach Brian Lee after the game. “I had no idea what to expect. We’re only returning five guys, so there were a lot of rookies out there, a lot of guys going two ways. I love playing North because they make you play your best.”

From North Attleboro’s perspective, it was mistakes that doomed the Rocketeers on Friday. In addition to the struggles protecting Peterson and the turnovers, North also committed five penalties and just looked out of sync.

“Too many self-inflicted wounds,” said North coach Don Johnson. “We had kind of seen it in preseason, but way too many [mistakes] to beat anybody really. They made plays they had to make but we had mistakes in basic coverages. That second touchdown we had someone line up wrong and left a guy wide open.”

The struggles started on the opening drive when KP defensive lineman Evan Rice sniffed out a third down screen, tipped, and intercepted Peterson’s pass to give the Warriors the ball at the North 33. A 13-yard run by senior quarterback Brendan Lydon (7-12, 143 yards) got the ball inside the 10, but KP was stopped on three straight plays and settled for a 22-yard Cole Baker field goal.

North’s defense made the next big play when Brendan McHugh got to Lydon on a blitz and stripped the ball loose. Brad White recovered the fumble for the Rocketeers and three plays later Peterson hit Nolan Buckley for a 21-yard touchdown into the back corner of the end zone to take North’s only lead of the game.

Facing third and 15 on its next possession, KP hit a big play to answer right back. A broken coverage left junior Aidan Bender running free down the seam and Lydon hit him in stride for a 71-yard score. Just two plays into the Rocketeers’ next possession and senior corner Andrew Dittrich forced a McHugh (11 carries, 45 yards) fumble and Dylan Leonard dove on it to get the ball right back.

Thomas Madden saved the possession for the Warriors by diving on a fumble on the first play and on third and eight from the North 13, Lydon threw a perfect strike into the corner that was pulled in by David Morganelli for a 17-7 halftime lead.

“I thought the wideouts caught some really good balls for us and I thought our pass [protection] was good,” said Lee about the success of the passing attack. “Sometimes you’ve got to change up what you’re doing and I thought the guys really responded.”

Johnson added, “I was pleased with the way that we stopped the run game, but they had good balance. I think the quarterback has come a long way for them. He was a difference maker.”

A punt and then back-to-back fumbles gave North the ball at its own 21 about halfway through the third quarter. The Rocketeers put together a 17-play drive that took more than 10 minutes off the clock and needed two fourth down conversions to get themselves back in the contest.

Peterson was sacked three times on the drive, twice by Bender, but also went 5-for-7 passing, including a dart on fourth and eight that hit Omar Jasseh and kept the drive alive. One play after the combo just missed on the right side of the end zone, Peterson threw another fourth down strike, this one to senior Marion Bresko down the left sideline for a 27-yard score that cut the lead to just three points (17-14) with 7:54 remaining.

Lee joked, “They pulled a KP on us. We didn’t do anything in the second half, except for hang on and play some ‘D’. We tell the kids, you’re going to fight. They’re going to come over here and fight to the end. We hung on and sometimes that’s what you have to do.”

A punt gave North the ball right back and a roughing the passer call pushed the Rocketeers to the KP 31. Two plays later, Peterson tried to go for the end zone, but the ball was intercepted by Luke D’Amico at the three-yard-line.

On third and nine, facing another punt to give the ball back to the Rocketeers, Lydon fired down the middle to senior tight end JJack Piller, who pulled the pass down despite two Rocketeers in coverage and held on through contact for a crucial first down. With 48 seconds left, senior running back Shane Frommer, who was held to just 41 yard on his first 13 carries, bounced a run off tackle to the left side and was gone for a 57-yard touchdown to seal the win.

The personnel may be very different from last season’s experienced squad, but the attitude is the same. The Warriors find a way to grind out victories and make opponents uncomfortable.

“That’s kind of our mentality in general – we like to attack,” said Lee. “Sometimes it looks nice to drop eight into coverage but good quarterbacks make plays when they have enough time. We’re just pretty good at it.”

He added, “We love to play good defense here. We made plays when we had to.”

King Philip (1-0) will try to make it 15 wins in a row when it takes on Foxboro next Friday in the first game at the newly renamed Jack Martinelli Field. Next week, North Attleboro (0-1) will host Bishop Feehan at Community Field.

Boys Soccer
Franklin, 0 @ Xaverian, 1 – Final – Franklin head coach Fran Bositis noted improvement from the Panthers’ opening game and said his side played hard, but couldn’t find the back of the net.

Oliver Ames, 5 @ Stoughton, 0 – Final – Oliver Ames used three different goal scorers to race out to a 3-0 lead through the first 40 minutes and added a pair of second half strikes to open 2017 with a win. Senior Brandin Osborne netted a goal in each half while Matt Alvarado, Jack Sheldon, and Michael Nikiciuk each scored once. Sheldon, Nathaniel Cardoza, James Gillespie, Josh Melnick and freshman Matt Nikiciuk each registered an assist.

Field Hockey
Stoughton, 3 @ Attleboro, 4 – Final – Attleboro scored a pair of goals in each have and senior goalie Katie Pelletier turned aside nine shots to help the Bombardiers edge Stoughton. Grace Mayer scored a pair of goals for Attleboro in the first half, the latter on an assist from Eliza Sabilla. Alex Compton netted both goals in the second half for Big Blue, converting assists from Mayer and Abigail Boudreau. Allie Howe found the back of the net twice for Stoughton while Alanna McCormick scored once.

Canton, 4 @ Mansfield, 1 – Final – Canton junior Maggie Malloy scored a hat trick to lead the Bulldogs to a win on the road at Mansfield.

Foxboro, 1 @ King Philip, 4 – Final – After a scoreless first half, King Philip exploded for four goals in the second half. Nicole Connor opened the scoring off an assist from Alli Meehan just under three minutes into the second half and six minutes later, Meehan doubled the lead with an unassisted goal. Liz Furfari scored back-to-back goals four-minute span, the first off a feed from Christina Hathaway, the second from Meehan. Foxboro tallied with just under three minutes to play when Lily Daly finished a pass from Jackie Brion. KP finished with 19 shots and 14 corners.

Milford, 1 @ Franklin, 4 – Final – Franklin junior Cassi Ronan registered her first hat trick of the season, including scoring on a penalty stroke, to lead Franklin over Milford. Freshman Victoria Quinn scored for the second straight game, finishing off an assist from sophomore Elizabeth Clark. FHS head coach Lisa Cropper also noted junior Emily Valentino had a strong game for the Panthers.

North Attleboro, 0 @ Taunton, 1 – Final – Taunton senior Kya Enos scored the lone goal of the game just over midway through the first half. Enos converted the lone tally on an assist from Liana Duarte. Taunton goalie Emma Sheehan turned away nine saves to record the shutout. THS head coach Liz Hathaway said Kathryn Robinson and Lauren Torres both had strong games for the Tigers.

Sharon, 0 @ Oliver Ames, 8 – Final – Oliver Ames had seven different players find the back of the net in the win, with Liz Nuss registering a pair of goals.

Volleyball
Attleboro, 0 @ Canton, 3 – Final – Canton’s Nicole Brown (15 assists) did a great job running the offense in her debut as starting setting according to head coach Pat Cawley as the Bulldogs registered a 25-17, 25-23, 25-16 sweep of Attleboro. Megan McDonough led the defense with 12 digs and was “a strong leader on the court,” according to Cawley. Cawley added Sofia Connor and Hannah Jerrier played strong all around games, combining for 10 kills.

Mansfield, 3 @ Foxboro, 0 – Final – Mansfield opened its 2017 campaign with a 25-23, 25-16, 25-23 sweep on the road at Foxboro. Senior Meg Hill led the offense with 13 kills and senior Lexi Gardner chipped in with seven kills. Senior Emma Ascoli finished the game with 25 assists for Mansfield.

Franklin, 1 @ North Attleboro, 3 – Final – Franklin fought off the sweep but North Attleboro finished the match in four sets, 25-20, 25-18, 25-27, 25-20. Kezia De La Cruz led the Rocketeers with 12 kills and a pair of aces while Katie DeMontigny had nine kills and two aces in the win. For Franklin, Meaghan Maguire had eight total blocks (six solo) and five kills, Hailey Sanders added three blocks (one solo) and five kills and Lauren McGrath had 19 assists and four aces.

King Philip, 3 @ Milford, 0 – Final – King Philip slammed the door shutout on its sweep of Milford with senior Michaela Palumbo accounting for 16 service points in the third set alone in a 25-20, 25-11, 25-7 win. Palumbo also had five kills and five aces in the win while Sydney Phillips had 11 kills and Grace Ely notched three kills.

Oliver Ames, 1 @ Stoughton, 3 – Final – Stoughton senior Val Whalen had a very strong game in a 3-1 (25-16, 20-25, 25-9, 25-21) win over visiting Oliver Ames. Whalen led the way with 19 kills, 13 digs and six blocks while juniors Molly Turner and Hanna Holden combined for over 30 assists. OA’s Emma Petrillo had seven kills and four aces, sophomore Allie Kemp had 22 assists and Sadie Homer notched 10 digs and two aces.

Taunton, 2 @ Sharon, 3 – Final – In a back and forth match, Sharon emerged with a 22-25, 25-20, 25-16, 20-25, 15-11 win over visiting Taunton. For the Tigers, Sam Reaume had 10 kills and an ace, Kayli Fagan notched 26 assists, five aces and four kills and McKenzie Lucie played well in the back row according to head coach Toby Chaperon.

Golf
Mansfield, 165 @ King Philip, 167 – Final – Mansfield freshman Ryan Dow had shot a team-low round of 38 to lead the Hornets to their first win. Freshman Brian See added a 41 in the win.